Strong
by MckennaMargaret1027
Summary: Adira Bennet was the schools outcast. Ignored. Invisible. She lives with her abusive father. Her mother and sister died a few years ago. She hopes to finish the year with enough money saved for her to be able to leave. That all changes when a certain red headed vampire saves her from an assault and decides to stay to find out more about her mate.
1. Chapter 1

***not edited***

Adira's pov

Walking through school hallways was always the same. Getting shoved out of the way. Flinching when someone shoves me too hard and presses on a dark hidden bruise. My books being shoved to the floor. Me being shoved the the floor.

It's been this way ever since three years ago. My mom and sister died. They were shot in a robbery.

Well, that's what everyone else thinks. Ever since my father did what he did I become his personal punching bag. The more I fought back the worse it was. I've learned just keep my mouth shut and it wouldn't be as bad.

My mother was beautiful. Long brown hair. Hazel eyes. Her smile could light up the room. Her name was Ava.

My sister was just like me. Same hair and brown eyes. Her name was Sophie.

The school bell rings snapping me out of my thoughts and I rush out. I step over a leg that was meant to trip me and open my locker. I shove my books in my bag and jog through the schools double doors.

I walk inside my house and resist the urge to cover my nose. It reeks of alcohol and cigarette smoke. I head straight to my room and take out my homework so I can get that done before I have to make dinner. My bedroom door bangs against my wall as its roughly shoved open, making me jump.

"Where the hell have you been?!" My father yells. He was clearly drunk just like he always was. In a dirty white shirt and jeans.

"I've been at school." I say quietly.

"Speak up!"

"I've been at school!" I yell.

He storms over to me and grabs my arms, yanking me up. He smacks me across the face, my head turning to the side so now I'm facing my window. I see a red blur but its gone as soon as it came. Must be my mind playing tricks on me again.

"Make dinner!" He orders.

I stumble down the stairs and into the kitchen. I grab the food that I need and make a sandwich. I grab him a bottle of whatever beer from the refrigerator and walk into the living room. I hand him the food and drink before grabbing my coat. I put my shoes on and slip on my coat before walking out the door.

Digging in my coat pockets I pull out a cigarette and my lighter. I lean against the side of building, taking a long drag. I close my eyes and feel my tense muscles loosen up. After a few more long drags I continue walking on my normal route. 

On my way home I take a shortcut through the ally I always cut through. There normally isn't anyone around.

"Hey, wait up, sweatheart!" A loud voice calls out but I keep on walking.

"What's the rush?" He asks stepping in front of me.

"I actually have someone waiting for me across the street, so if you could let me pass that would be great."

"They can wait." He smirks before grabbing my wrist.

"Well I cant, so if you could let me go." I gesture to his tightening grip on my wrist.

"Too bad sweatheart." He traps me against the building and tugs at my shirt. My body goes stiff and tears fall from my cheeks. Not again. A sob escapes my lips and I squeeze my eyes shut tightly.

Suddenly, he is flung off of me and my eyes shoot open. A woman with fiery red hair has him against the wall pinned by the throat in seconds. I cross my arms over my shirtless chest and stare at her wide eyed. The cold wind stings my damp cheeks and I blink the tears away to see more clearly.

The man pinned to the wall is visibly shaking and the woman smirks. She licks her lips and lowers her face to his neck. The man starts screaming and I hear a sickening crack before the yelling stops. I turn my head when she lets him go. He falls to the ground and the woman wipes blood away from her mouth. Her eyes lock on mine. Neither one of us daring to look away.

"What are we doing with the girl?" Our heads snap to the men to the side. One extremely pale with blonde hair to his chin and one dark skinned with dreadlocks.

"Don't touch her!" The woman snarls. I back myself up against the wall, my eyes darting between them.

"Victoria, is she?"

"Yes." The woman, who I now know as Victoria, sighs.

"Is she where you've been sneaking off to lately?" The blonde one asks. Victoria nods. The man grins before looking over at me and frowning. I look down at my bruise littered skin. Oh.

I shrink back further against the wall and before I can blink Victoria is standing in front of me. My jaw drops and she hands me my shirt. I shakily reach out and grab it, my hand brushing hers. My eyes widen further at how cold her skin is. I quickly pull my shirt over my head and look for my coat. I pick it up and put it on. I stuff my hands into my coat pockets and look up.

"You just-how-what just happened?" I stutter out. Her face softens as I speak.

"Well, how about I tell you, if you let me walk you home." She suggests. I reluctantly nod and she smiles. We walk away from the two men.

"What are you?" I whisper.

"A vampire."

"Are you going to kill me?" I ask quietly.

"I'd never purposely hurt you, Adira." She says softly.

"Why not? And how do you know who I am?"

"I can't." She states, ignoring my second question.

"What do you mean?" I ask puzzled.

"Hurting you would hurt me worse. I physically cannot hurt you."

"Why?" She sighs.

"That's an explanation for another time."

"Why are you so cold and pale?" I touch her arm.

"Comes with being a vampire." Victoria shrugs.

"Why did you kill that man?"

"He was going to hurt you. I couldn't let him." A warm feeling bubbles through my chest. Why do I feel like I can trust her? I just met her and I already want to open up to her. She smiles and I furrow my eyebrows.

"Its normal to feel that way, you know." She says.

"How did you-"

"I can feel what you feel. Why, goes along with the explanation for another time." I furrow my eyebrows again and glance at her.

"Tell me abut yourself." She smiles.

"Don't you already know about me?"

"Some things. Just what I have heard." I take a deep breath.

"Well my name is Adira Dove Bennet. I don't have a favorite color. I live with my dad; my mom and sister were killed in a robbery." I blink away tears as the image of what really happened flashes through my mind. "I love to read. I want to be a photographer, I finish high school next week and that's about it." I stuff my hands back into my pockets.

"Colomba." She hums.

"Colomba?" I ask.

"It means dove." I smile slightly.

"Well, here we are." I look behind her and see my house. I sigh and she trails the back of her finger over my cheek before blurring away.

A tear trails down my cheek and I slowly walk up the pathway that leads to my house.


	2. Chapter 2

**If for whatever reason the coding on this messes up, because that seams to happen a lot on my other story, this is on wattpad under the same username.**

A few nights later after work, I lay on my bed looking at the glowing star decals covering my ceiling. My mom put them up when I was three and terrified of the dark. A few months later and when Sophie was born I had convinced myself that I had to be brave and protect her from the scary monsters. Little did my three year old self know, the scary monster would be our father. My sister was my best friend. We understood each other, even if she was three years younger than me. We were all the other had.

My mother was great. She loved us and gave us everything she could, but she was in denial. I think she believed that my father was still the same man she fell in love with in high school. I guess she just didn't want to believe that he changed for the worst. She loved him, so she stayed. I loved my mom but sometimes I just wish she would've woken up from her daydream of denial and got out of the marriage and taken us far, far away from him. I don't think that thought ever crossed her mind. I can't help but be angry at her sometimes. If only she'd gotten us out. They would still be here and my father wouldn't have done what he did.

I get up off my bed and walk over to my old wooden dresser. I pick up the gold locket and trail my finger over the intricate designs. My eyes sting with tears. The locket belonged to my mom. She had a picture of my dad in it. The other side was empty. I replaced the picture of my dad with a picture of my mom and sister and a piece of paper with the words 'you are my sunshine' for my sister. I sang that song to her when she would start crying so she didn't wake up our parents. She had bad nightmares growing up. I clasp the locket around my neck and wipe under my eyes with my thumb.

I hear a light tap on my window and turn my head. Shaking my head clear of the thoughts of my mom and sister I open the window.

"You could just knock on the door like a normal person you know." The corners of my lips tug upwards.

"Where's the fun in that?" She smirks, laying down on my bed and puts her hands under her head. I sit on the edge of my bed.

I look down at my hands and pick at my nails. I feel Victoria shift and she grabs my hands.

"Are you okay?" I lift my hand, our eyes locking. I shake my head and tears start freely streaming down my cheeks.

"Its not fair." A sob escapes past my lips and I grab ahold of the locket around my neck.

"What isn't fair?" She asks softly, while retaking ahold of the hand that isn't holding my locket.

"That they're gone and he-" I force myself to stop talking before the truth slips out.

I close my eyes and do what my mom taught me when I was little. I relax my shoulders and breathe in and out. I let my mind wander back to when they were still alive and we would go out in the backyard. I remember the sound of the leaves and wind before a storm. Anchoring myself to that sound, the tears stop completely.

I slowly open my eyes and Victoria studies me. She grabs my hand and I trace patterns on the back of her hand.

"Doesn't my temperature bother you?"

"I love the cold. Sophie hated it." I chuckle while shaking my head.

"Sophie?" She asks.

"My sister." I answer reluctantly. She squeezes my hand and smiles sadly.

"I had a sister. I had to leave her and my parents when I was changed. It wasn't safe to be around them." She speaks softly.

"How old are you?" I change topics.

"I was twenty two when I was changed by James." She smiles.

She lays back down, pulling me with her. I lift up our hands, playing with her fingers. For some reason, there's a part of me that feels like I have known for more then a few days. Like something inside of me wants tell her everything.

"Why do I feel like I can tell you anything when I barely know you?"

"Remember when I told you I couldn't explain some things yet?" Victoria turns her head towards me. I turn my body so I'm facing her and prop myself up on my elbow.

"Is this one of those things?" She nods but before either of us say anything else I hear my fathers booming footsteps up the stairs. Knowing he's coming to my room, I turn wide eyed towards my bedroom door. Oh no.

Before I can even comprehend what's happening, I'm outside my house standing across from Victoria. I blink a couple of times before looking at her questioningly.

"Where are we going?" I ask while pulling down my sleeves to attempt to shield myself from the wind.

"To my house." She states before grabbing my hand. I glance at her lips before realizing what she said.

"What? No! I at least have to change if I'm meeting your friends." I look down at my outfit. Light wash skinny jeans and a black long sleeve with old converse.

"You look great, now get on my back." She grins.

"Good thing I didn't change after work." I mutter. I hesitantly jump on her back and she wraps her arms under my legs. I loosely wrap my arms around her neck when she starts walking. I lay my head on her shoulder and close my eyes.

This is insane. I barely know her but yet I feel like I've known her forever. I cant explain it but I trust her completely. I don't know anything about her but for some reason I never want to leave her side.

"What's your favorite color?" I ask her. She thinks for a moment.

"Maroon." She replies. "You might want to hang on." Before I can reply she starts running and I immediately bury my face in her neck. I hear her laugh and a few minutes later she stops running.

Opening my eyes, I look around. We're in front of a beautiful house surrounded by the forest.

I look around in awe before remembering why I'm here. "This is nauseating." I hide my face in her neck. She chuckles.

"You'll be fine. They wont try to hurt you. Even if they did, I wouldn't let them." I sigh as she sets me down. She grins before adding "Have I told you I love your accent?"

I shake my head, my cheeks tinted pink. Kids teased me about my English accent all throughout middle school. She grabs my hand, lightly pulling me toward the house.

"Well, I do." She smiles before pushing the front door open.

I nervously scratch my forearm and the two men walk up to us.

"Hey, I'm James." The first one says while pulling my in for a hug. I flinch slightly as eyes widen. I hesitantly hug him back without touching him very much.

"Hey." I reply quietly when he releases me.

"I'm Laurent." The other says while holding his hand out.

"Hi." I shake his hand.

I glance around the big and open room.

"Wow." I breathe out. There's a huge bookshelf and a lot of windows. There's a small stove and fridge with stairs leading upstairs. Victoria grabs my hand and we walk up the stairs.

"Your house is amazing." She squeezes my hand and leads me to what I'm assuming is her bedroom. There is a door with a bridge to a small wooden area covered in blankets.

She pulls me onto her bed and I land on top of her. Not questioning it, I bury my face in her neck and enjoy the content feeling because it won't last forever. I'll have to go home soon and who knows what will happen. I could tell by my fathers footsteps that he was angrier than usual. Now that he knows I'm not at the house he will be ever angrier. After tonight, I don't know what will happen to me. I could be dead, in a hospital or in a ditch somewhere.

I always thought that if I were to die, it would be quick or unexpected. Maybe it was just me being naive or maybe it was just fear. Fear of dying. Fear of not knowing what happens after your gone. I don't know, but what I do know is that it isn't true. I was terrified for what was going to happen later but on some level, I think I'm also relieved. I'm relieved that this constant pain and suffering will finally come to an end. I only wish I had more time with Victoria. We barley know each other and yet I can already tell that if given the time, I would fall in love with her.

I lift my head and look into her red eyes. I glance at her lips and slowing lean in because I know that this could be the only chance I have.

Our lips meet softly and it's everything I thought it would be.

I pull away after a moment and sigh.

"What was that for?" Victoria asks. I give her a watery smile before replying with, "Nothing. Just felt like it." and praying that she believes it.

"Okay, well, you can totally feel free to do that whenever you want." She grins and I can't help but smile.

"I will keep that in mind." I reply while shaking my head. I look out towards the door and smile. "Can we go out there?" I nod my head towards the door.

"Sure." She smiles and I get off of her. We walk across the small bridge and lay down on a big pile of blankets and pillows.

I look up at the stars and put my hands behind my head.

Just for a moment I could have sworn I heard my sisters voice. As soon as I close my eyes the small voice asking me to play dolls turns into screams.

I could never figure out why my father did what did. What had happened that caused him do this?

"What's wrong?" A voice breaks my train of thought.

"What's right?" I ask back before realizing that I sounded rude. "I'm sorry." She shakes her head and grabs one of my hands from behind my head.

"Don't apologize, darling, you have done nothing wrong." Victoria weaves her fingers through mine and I smile.

An hour later she drove me home.

I slowly walk up to the house that used to be my home and push open the front door. My dad stomps down the stairs and I know that this could very well be my last day on earth.

My father proceeded to do what he always does and by the time he was done doing whatever he pleased I could barely breathe. He drags me to the closet and shoves me inside before locking the door.

 _I'm sorry Sophie._ I think before blacking out.


	3. an

hey guys, sorry this isn't an update but I had a question. Who do you want to see as James' mate? I was thinking maybe Bella but I wanted your opinions on it.


End file.
